CRESTED TITMOUSE. 
217 
whose notes surprised me. Having* shot him from off 
the top of a very tall tree, I found it to be the black- 
headed titmouse, with a long* and deep indentation in 
the cranium, the skull having* been evidently, at some 
former time, drove in, and fractured, but was now per- 
fectly healed. Whether or not the change of voice 
could be owing to this circumstance, I cannot pretend 
to decide. 
152 . PARUS BICOLOR, LINN. AND WILS. — CRESTED TITMOUSE, 
WILSON, PLATE VIII. FIG. V. 
This is another associate of the preceding species ; but 
more noisy, more musical, and more suspicious, though 
rather less active. It is, nevertheless, a sprightly bird, 
possessing a remarkable variety in the tones of its 
voice, at one time not much louder than the squeaking 
of a mouse, and in a moment after whistling aloud, and 
clearly, as if calling a dog; and continuing* this dog-call 
through the woods for half an hour at a time. Its 
high, pointed crest, or, as Pennant calls it, toupet , gives 
it a smart and not inelegant appearance. Its food cor- 
responds with that of the foregoing ; it possesses con- 
siderable strength in the muscles of its neck, and is 
almost perpetually digging into acorns, nuts, crevices, 
and rotten parts of the bark, after the larvae of insects. 
It is also a constant resident here. When shot at and 
wounded, it fights with great spirit. When confined 
to a cage, it soon becomes familiar, and will subsist on 
hemp seed, cherry stones, apple seeds, and hickory 
nuts, broken and thrown in to it. However, if the 
cage be made of willows, and the bird not much hurt, 
he will soon make his way through them. The great 
concavity of the lower side of the wings and tail of 
this genus of birds is a strong characteristic, and well 
suited to their short irregular flight. 
This species it also found over the whole United 
States; but is most numerous towards the north. It 
extends also to Hudson’s Bay ; and, according to 
Latham, is found in Denmark, and in the southern 
